The Penguins and Panthers played a pretty eventful game at the CONSOL Energy Center last night. Things got spicy, Derrick Pouliot scored his first career goal on his first career shot, and Marc-Andre Fleury bailed out what was a below average performance by the team in front of him.
The Penguins had a ton of young defensemen in the lineup and while none of them look out of place for the long term, last night the Penguins struggled mightily in the possession department. They won't win too many times getting crushed like that.
The Panthers are a team that is respected in the analytics community. They have good possession as well as good goaltending. Their model for success is repeatable and the Penguins got a glimpse of that last night. They have earned the name #fancycats.
5v5 possession, Panthers +13% at Penguins. pic.twitter.com/bDEvCXwqQa
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) December 21, 2014
Things to notice from the chart. Nobody on Pittsburgh did particularly well. All at 50% or below.
Rob Scuderi is supposed to be the "calming influence" but he had the most Corsi attempts against last night among the defensemen.
It was a rare night where Malkin struggled in the possession department. Malkin was also called for diving twice. The first time I can see how it would be called, the second one was a terrible call.
Here is Derrick Pouliot's snipe job on his first career shot:
Mario Lemieux shook Derrick Pouliot’s hand in the locker room after tonight’s game. Definitely a cool moment. pic.twitter.com/75hhkFzPOo
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 21, 2014
To be congratulated by Mario Lemieux after your 1st ever NHL game is an incredibly unique honor that only Penguins organization can provide
I imagine the conversation went as follows:
"Hey Derrick, congrats, you got your 1st goal on your 1st shot, but I can't remember, did you do it on your 1st shift?"
Congrats to Derrick Pouliot, great moment, and ultimately the game winning goal as well.
Let's talk some Steve Downie. You can see the good that he brings in that gif above. It was his great pass that found Pouliot for that goal. Downie is a double-edged sword because you have the out of control nut-job side of him as well.
The argument before the season was that Rick Tocchet could corral Downie and focus him more on the hockey side of things.
Steve Downie is on pace for 346 PIMs this year. Second place is under 200.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) December 21, 2014
@GunnerStaal @mirtle career high of 208 under Tocchet as well
— Ryan Mance (@Mance_22) December 21, 2014
Ultimately Steve Downie being a deterrent to anything is a myth. The definition of deterrent: a thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something. Everything Downie does is in reaction to something that has already happened. Including these two incidents against the Penguins star players.
Thankfully for Sid he was not injured. When he came back he looked like he was on a mission and eventually he was rewarded with a goal that has been a long time coming. Crosby had 7 shots on goal and he will continue to score goals if he can generate that kind of output on a game to game basis.
So the guy who got slashed and the guy who got clubbed over the head with a helmet teamed up for that nice goal. That one must have felt nice for Crosby and Letang.
Simon Despres made the nice feed across to set up that play. He has been playing great this year. He is a legitimate top four defenseman who has puck skill, size, skating, and the willingness to play physical. If he can eliminate those sketchy hits he lays down from time to time there will be literally nothing to complain about.
Just a polite remainder that Bylsma thought Doug Murray, Mark Eaton, Rob Scuderi, Brooks Orpik, Deryk Engelland, and Robert Bortuzzo were all better than Despres.
Even Nick Spaling's goals are boring.
I don't quite understand the Klinkhammer scratch. He shouldn't play behind Andrew Ebbett. One of the selling points on Nick Spaling is that he can play all three forward positions. Let Klinkhammer play with Goc and Downie on the third line and slot Spaling as the 4th line center to show what he's got at that position. Because the wing thing hasn't proven to be worth 2.2M yet.
Bryan Rust and Bobby Farnham give the Penguins a lot more on the fourth line than Sill or Adams, especially Rust. Rust is doing the job that most thought Megna would do.
I know it is crazy talk but the Penguins actually killed a penalty without Rob Scuderi or Craig Adams on the ice. I was led to believe that wasn't possible. It's almost as if a lot of guys are qualified to play on the PK.
If I had to vote on the Vezina Trophy today I would have Pekka Rinne at the top and Marc-Andre Fleury in second.
Both Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff are on IR. That means we will continue to see the young guys on defense. I'll be looking for some better possession moving forward.
Guess who the Penguins play next? Should be another fun one.
Thanks for reading!
Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal